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Friday, 4 March 2016

How many times have you read articles upon articles on how
to streamline your business more effectively, how to get more clients, juggle
multiple projects, deliver quality or keep your sanity at the office? Many
times, right? There are so many things we need to tick off that list before we
can call ourselves professional.

For me, it is all down to two simple things.

Two things that I have incorporated in my book of good
business practices since the very beginning of my freelance career and which make
my clients come back to me again and again for more work. You would think that any business which takes
itself seriously would have incorporated these two simple techniques in their
everyday dealings with clients but you would be surprised. I am astounded,
almost on a daily basis, to find out how many freelancers ignore these two simple
steps.

Acknowledging receipt of an email

In today’s connected world there is absolutely no reason not
to acknowledge receipt of an email. Please note that I am not referring to
unsolicited emails or any other type of unwanted communication. I am
specifically referring to emails from current or prospective clients with
regards to a current or prospective project.

And I repeat, in today’s connected world, there is
absolutely no reason as to why you would not acknowledge a client’s,
outsourcer’s or collaborator’s e-mail communication, at least during business hours.
Not having time to reply to an email is not good enough reason simply because
if you had time to read the email in the first place, you also had time to hit
reply with the words “Received”. It takes five seconds.

I understand that there will be times when replying to an
email immediately will simply not be possible, e.g you are driving and cannot
stop to reply to an email. That still doesn’t justify not replying to an email.
You still have the option to reply two hours later or five hours later or even
much later on that same evening. If your business depends on the amount of emails
you get from prospective leads/clients, etc. forgetting to reply to an email is
not an excuse but rather a chance to realise that you need an effective filing
system put in place. You should be checking emails all the time and have by now
devised a way to highlight emails that need answering right away as opposed to
those you can answer a few hours later. That way you cannot miss anything.
Endeavour to reply within 24 hours at the latest. Go over 48 hours and you risk
coming across as sloppy, unprofessional and unreliable. Not to mention you can
anger people too. If you are in the pub, reply from your iPhone/Android/smartphone;
if you don’t have one, then you are simply not taking your business seriously.

Let’s take a moment to see how acknowledging receipt of an
email can help your business by going back to the first paragraph of this
article.

Getting more clients.It is a non-brainer. If you don’t reply
promptly or acknowledge receipt of an email with the intention to reply, your
prospective client will go elsewhere.

Juggling multiple projects.
Again communication is key which is why
you need to communicate with your client promptly, especially if you come
across a problem along the way, eg. if more time is needed to finish one
project or if one project needs prioritising over another.

Delivering quality. This is
closely tied with point b and refers back to the importance of smooth
communication between you and the client. And it all starts with acknowledging
one another’s email.

Keeping your sanity. This
is the most important of all. In this online world that we live in, where most
of the work we provide can be done online, with little face-to-face contact
involved, you want to make sure that you and your client are on the same page.
Did he or did he not receive what I sent him this morning? Is she or is she not
happy with my work? Am I going to get paid?

Finally, I will concede the fact that sometimes it really is
very difficult to reply to an email because a) you are in a conference or in training
and no mobile phones are allowed, b) you are in a plane, c) you are off sick or
on holidays or have just come back from holidays and have hundreds of emails
that need answering. For all the above reasons, there is simple technique no.
2.

The Out of Office message

First, I will start by saying that if you really want to be successful at what you are doing, you can never truly be Out of Office. I am
never completely out of reach from my clients, not even when I am on
holidays. While I will most probably not
take any work while I am away, I will still make myself available to
communicate my availability, negotiate a different deadline or simply answer a
question a client may have.

On the subject of Out of Office messages though, I am truly
amazed to see how many freelancers fail to use this tool for the purpose it was
created, Out of Office messages. While the majority of freelance entrepreneurs use
it after hours, during the weekend or on holiday, that is not the only time you
should be using it. No one is stopping you from using it for a couple of hours
only, while you are away giving that presentation and can’t check your emails
for example. Out of Office messages
allow you to choose the dates and the clients you want your message sent to, so
there is really no excuse not to reply. You
should also be able to set your message up from your mobile phone if for some
reason you cannot get to your computer. Alternatively, you should ask your
partner, if you work at home, or the colleague who is normally sitting next to
you to do it for you. You can use Out of
Office messages for just about everything. I have used them before to
communicate a temporary power outage, a faulty internet connection or the fact
that I am going through a very large list of e-mails at the moment and can’t
reply instantly.

Monday, 24 November 2014

At some point in our freelance career, we are going to have
at least one client from hell. By “client from hell”, I don’t necessarily mean
someone who didn't pay; I am talking more about the type of client who plays
psychological games that may make you doubt your work and yourself. For someone
who has had nothing but positive experiences with clients so far, (in my career
of 11 years, 6 as a freelancer) this came as a serious blow. And so, I decided to write this post in an
effort to find out what constitutes a bad client, as well as “educate” any
potential clients who may want to work with me in the future.

My client from hell was a very large company, with dozens of
offices both in Europe and the United States. A direct client, not a
translation agency, and that is perhaps the first red flag in the story.
Without wanting to generalise too much, the common perception is that doing business
with an SME accounts for a much easier and smoother process, as opposed to doing
business with a very large company.
Business with an SME is a lot more personal. In many cases, the person
you talk to over the phone or via e-mail is the CEO of the company himself. My
client had CEOs, Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Chairmen that were impossible
to reach. It also had a legal department which handled our dispute until the
end. I have worked with many SMEs in the
past and my experience has always been positive. This was the first time I decided
to work with a very large company and my experience, unfortunately, was everything but positive.

So what exactly went wrong with that client? This is the second version of my post. In the
first, I ended up writing pages after pages about what had happened exactly.
But why would I want to relive this experience anyway and how would that be of
any interest to you? Instead, I prefer to bring to your attention some of the
things that went wrong as a result of this client’s behaviour and way of doing
business.

I consider this client to be “the client from hell” because:

·They were difficult to
communicate with and evasive in their emails. A good client responds to
your queries when you want to find out more about the project. After all, you
only want to do the best job possible. They do not only contact you when they
want to tell you something; they also take the time to reply to your queries.
They do not only talk, they also listen. Of course, it goes without saying that
this works both ways. In other words, if you and your client don’t
communicate well, you can kiss your project good-bye.

·They were highly
disorganised. Excluding the fact that they never replied to our e-mails in
time, when we finally went ahead with the project, they sent us the files a lot
later than they said they would, they sent us the wrong files, and they changed
our deadline. The more pressure you put on a project and the people working
on it, the more chancesyou have to condemn it to failure.

·“Too many cooks, spoil
the broth.” The bigger the company, the more people will get involved in
the project and this can potentially have disastrous consequences. In my case,
I cced a team of five people in all e-mails, and while my direct communication
took place with one person only – their coordinator – it seems that the team
itself was not very good at communicating with each other. As a result,
none of the guidelines that we set at the beginning of the project were adhered
to or respected. While I got the confirmation from one person on how to go
ahead with the project, the rest of the team were not necessarily in the know about that discussion [which is strange, since all 5 people were cced at all times during
the project]

·They were unable to
understand simple instructions or willingly decided to disregard them. Instructions
and guidelines are set for a reason and once they have been confirmed and
agreed to by both parties, they should be respected to the utmost detail. Any
deviation from this, even the most minor one, can have disastrous results. I
believe my fault here lies in not “educating” the client enough about the
importance of adhering almost religiously to the guidelines. As a result, when
we got our feedback, and a list of complaints, we realised that none of the
things we had agreed upon together, had been respected.

·We never heard from them
again, after we submitted our work. Whenever I submit work, especially to a
new, direct client, I always make sure to mention in my email that I want to be
contacted immediately, if there is something wrong with the work. I don’t
pretend to know everything, however if you help me, if you educate me about the
inner workings of your company, I am more than pleased to correct any mistakes
I may have made, free of charge. That didn't happen. Although, I asked for it
on the day I sent out our work, I never received an answer from them. Not even
an acknowledging e-mail that work had been received ok. We were informed about
potential problems in the project, only on the day we started chasing them for
payment! Don’t do that, if you are a company hiring a freelancer! This
behaviour will only serve to compromise your position even further.

To cut things short, when payment day came, they refused to pay
us (and only offered to pay half the price on our invoice) with the excuse that
the project had fallen to pieces. When we asked them to send us a list of
particulars –I was quite curious, as you can understand - we received an e-mail
that further exposed what lack of communication and mismanagement can do to a
project. Without wanting to go into too
many particulars, I will just say that the issue took a legal turn and was
handled by their legal department, however we were able to win our case, quite easily, after
we explained to them in great detail that the problem was a result of their own
miscommunication and inability to manage the project. I used previous e-mail
communication to prove that guidelines had not been adhered to or that they had
been willingly disregarded. Furthermore, lack of organisation (checking the
wrong files) and the fact that non-native speakers were trying to correct our
native speakers did not help much either.
Our work was impeccable, and although they never admitted to it, they
gave in and paid full price, as they could not find anything to blame us for.

From the bullet list above, you can see various reasons as
to why a project can go wrong. For me, lack of organisation is the most
serious one, especially when you work on a large project (20 files in this
case). Our client accused us of not proof-reading a file, which had been
proof-read sufficiently, however they were looking at the wrong place. We
submitted all files in order, but somewhere at their end, some of them got lost
or misplaced. Lack of organisation also
means not keeping track of your e-mail communication and the things that were
agreed to with the other party. Lack of
organisation also means that we were booked for a further date by them for another
project but our services were never used, resulting in significant loss of
profit and resources on our side. And because a project binds two parties, one
party’s shortcomings can have a negative effect on the other party as well (in
this case, me, the project manager who had to explain myself to my translators, as well as pay them out of my pocket).

If I could have done something differently, I would have
tried to keep my calm and sang-froid. That didn't happen unfortunately, as we
felt we were being attacked for no reason. At the end of the day though, truth shines,
and no one can take that away from you, no matter what is said in the heat of
the moment.

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

This is yet another exciting post from Martina Russo, an English, German and Spanish into Italian freelance translator who enjoys travelling and making the most of her professional independence. In the past, she reported from SE Asia and now she is once again at the other side of the world. Here's her latest story:

"Exactly
1 year ago, I was typing all the way from South East Asia. Today, after more or
less 1,5 years of full time freelancing, things are going smooth and I'm
enjoying a very happy lifestyle, living in South America. Right now, I'm
typing from the Galapagos Islands!

That's
right. I am – literally – living on an earthly heaven, where incredibly
colourful creatures walk, fly and swim all around me 24/7. There's no break from
beauty.

The pros and the cons of South America

Peru and Ecuador – and I guess the same could be said about the whole of South
America – have brought along their challenges.

The biggest one: time difference. South America is between -5 and -7
hours behind (compared to Europe). My clients are mainly European. This means
that when I wake up at 7 am, it's already 2 pm in Switzerland; 10 am for me, 5
pm in Europe.

-The problem: my main fear
was that I would lose a great amount of work from some clients because of the
time difference. I would wake up very nervous every morning and instantly check
my email in-box, sometimes finding messages that had been sent hours back and
occasionally tasks that had been cancelled because I wasn't available at the time.

-The solution: I told my
clients where I was located. They were all OK with it --actually, some of them
were even excited about it. At first, I tried to work according
to the EU time zone, but eventually it wasn't worth it so my clients happily adjusted their schedule
according to mine and we successfully found a meeting point. Of course, I will go the extra mile to
meet a deadline, so I still make exceptions when needed.

I got a local SIM card and
made sure that 3G was always on so as to receive email notifications promptly. This way, I can always reply within minutes; maximum within one hour. I communicated my local telephone number in case of emergencies and have been planning on opening a Google Voice number (or similar) so that I can
keep the same number, no matter where I am.

Being so many hours behind can
be quite stressful at first, but then you adjust to the rhythm. I can accept jobs early in the
morning and I need to be constantly available until around midday, but after that I can take a few hours off
and enjoy the day or any activity, because in Europe everybody's dining and sleeping at that time. In the
afternoon/evening there is more time to get work
done.

My typical day here usually unfolds like this:

I wake up between 6-7 am, instantly check emails from my phone and reply to
urgent jobs. I do some stretching exercises and eat breakfast. I then start working and stay
in the zone until around 12-1 pm. I have lunch and get some more work done, and
around 2 pm I get my snorkelling or surfing equipment ready and off to the beach
I go! A couple of hours later I'm back and, after a shower and some reading, I
get back to work until dinner time.

Some of the highlights of this trip (and there are still many more to
come!):

-swimming and snorkelling with sea lions and giant sea turtles

-learning how to surf and (working on) getting over my terror for the
sea

-travelling across the Amazon rain forest and the Andes, experiencing
breathtaking landscapes, remote cultures and languages and local wild animals

Constantly pushing over my limits and boundaries
allows me to grow on so many levels, and it keeps me ever more motivated to do
my job. Not only do I love languages, cultures and translation –this
flexibility is one great perk of freelancing that I would not give up for all
the money in the world."

Martina in a nutshell:

Martina
Russo is an English, Spanish & German into Italianfreelance
translator with 4 years of experience and a BA in translation
studies. She also offers proofreading, subtitling, transcribing and (light)
post-editing services in Italian. Her main domains are Tourism &
Hospitality, Marketing & Communication and audiovisual translation.

Martina enjoys
the advantages of working from home by taking her home to different countries.
She likes experiencing new cultures and learning new languages – her dream is
to become a polyglot. She is currently writing an essay about memorisation
strategies applied to language learning and specialising in SEO and
localisation.

Would like to
get in touch with her? Have a look at her CV,
browse her website or
send her an email.

Wednesday, 5 November 2014

The next article is from Textualis, a Montreal-based translation company with clients from all around the world.

Doing
business with a client located in a time zone ahead

Nowadays, internet and technology allow us to do business
practically everywhere around the globe. While distance is no longer a problem
in doing business worldwide - and that also includes employing remote workers from
everywhere around the world- time zones may still be a problem, or at least a
real challenge for those doing business with companies based in another time
zone. A Canadian company like Textualis, for example, which is doing business
with clients located both in Europe and Asia would find it challenging to match
their clients’ working schedule… at the beginning at least!

The
problems companies face and how to deal with them

Differences in time zones would easily affect business done
between countries. For example, while in Canada the day has just begun, in
Europe, it would already be around noon, while in Asia, it would be afternoon
to evening, depending on the countries’ location. This would possibly make
communication offbeat… unless you set up a schedule you commit to follow. Here are some tips in order to avoid the possible problems
that might affect deadlines and communication, because the client’s
satisfaction is key to a successful partnership.

-Keep
count of your clients’ time zone. Although this might be difficult especially
at the beginning of your business, you can overcome the confusion created by
different time zones using different technology tools for your help. You can
use specific tools (eg. a time zone converter add-on for Firefox, the World
Time Buddy extension on Chrome, EasyTZ) that help you automatically convert time
zones to find out what time it is in the country where your clients are based.
And why not display it in your office as a reminder! Many companies have
several clocks on a big wall to make sure every client is taken care of in due
time.

-Choose
a default time for your meetings. Avoid creating confusion for yourself or your
clients by using the same time zone in all of your emails and conversations.
Start by choosing a time for reference and use the same for all your upcoming schedules,
meetings and emails.

-Pay
attention to Daylight Saving Time. This is probably one of the most common and
difficult problems when you work with clients from another time zone, as it is
not universally observed. Not paying attention to DST might create two
undesired situations: either missing deadlines or schedules, or standing up for
an extra hour for the scheduled meeting, for example. In order to avoid such
problems, you are recommended to check with your clients and colleagues to know
whether they observe DST.

-Be
specific about the time. Whether you are scheduling a meeting or setting up a
deadline, when you tell your client or colleague about the time, be specific as to whether you refer to your time zone or their time zone.

-Find
a common time that suits both you and your client. Especially when you work
with people who are on the opposite side of the planet, this means that one of
you would probably need either to wake up very early in the mornings, or to stay
awake late at nights. Try to find a common point or to regularly shift, so that
schedules are suitable for both of you.

A few words in the end

Although it might be very challenging to work with clients
based on the other side of the planet, things can be made a bit easier if you
pay attention to some things. Also, it can be very enriching for your team to
work with clients who probably have different cultures and ways to negotiate.

No one wants to miss a deadline or a meeting, so paying
attention to the time zone and remaining consistent by establishing the correct
time for meetings helps you avoid confusing situations when working with clients
and colleagues from different time zones than yours.

Wednesday, 1 October 2014

It's been some time since I updated this column but the Travelling Translator is back with a wonderful story from Sri Lanka. Ankie Renique is a Dutch into English freelance translator with a truly inspirational story to share. Here's what she had to say about her life as a travelling translator in Sri Lanka post-Indian ocean tsunami:

Ankie, tell us a few things about your life before you became a travelling translator. I was born in Holland but my parents quickly moved abroad
(Kuwait) when I was still a toddler. This meant I started my education in
English in a Muslim Arabic country and spent all holidays in Holland with
family and in our farm house in the South of France. This exposed me to many
different cultures at a young age. I did my degree in London, where I studied
Economics and Philosophy at LSE. By this time I was fluent in English, Dutch,
Flemish and French. I loved the multi-cultural vibe in London and so I decided to
settle there after graduating and started work for large IT consultancies. I
quickly found my niche in writing so I ended up as a Bid and Proposal Manager
mainly writing tender documents for all kinds of IT projects in the Financial
Sector.

The local lagoon

What languages do you speak and what made you become a translator? As mentioned above, I speak English, Dutch, Flemish and
French, although sadly I do not use my French enough to keep it fluent. The
main language in Sri Lanka is Singhala (the second is Tamil) and I am currently
learning this. However, I am just concentrating on speaking it for now as
writing it is near impossible (the Singhala alphabet has
58 letters for example!). There are several reasons which made me become a translator.
All my life I have been around other languages, different cultures and in
various countries. Different languages also came very easily to me at school
(in addition to the above I also understand German and a little Arabic) and
although I didn't do a formal language or translation degree, different
languages and cultures were a constant part of my life.

Me

After leaving London and the above job in 2003 to travel, my
first stop was Sri Lanka where I did some casual work in a hotel bar for
a friend and all was going great until Boxing Day, 2004 – the Indian Ocean
tsunami. Luckily I wasn't hurt and I didn't lose any friends, although I did
lose all my belongings. Most of the tourists soon left and as the hotel had
been damaged, there was no more job. I stayed on and did some voluntary work
but soon discovered that my resources weren't endless and I needed to find some
paying work. I went to Holland in 2005 and worked in a restaurant for 3 months
but decided I wanted to go back to Sri Lanka and this is when my foray into
freelancing started. I stumbled across some Dutch to English translation work online
quite by accident, applied and got the job (I now realise how very lucky I
was!). I really enjoyed the work and started searching for jobs using my fluent
Dutch! This was nine years ago and I haven’t looked back.

What made you become a travelling translator and lead the life that you do now? Since

becoming a freelance translator full-time I have lived and worked in Holland,
England, Sri Lanka and travelled and worked in India, Thailand, France and
Dubai. I am currently living in Sri Lanka again because I fell in love with
this country, its people, its culture, food and my partner who is Sri Lankan.
However, there is a very big chance that we will move on because there is still
so much to see! These days with wifi and great technology everywhere, I am
lucky in that the nature of translation work allows me to work anywhere.

Describe a typical day in your life as a travelling translator. In Sri Lanka a typical day is rare, random occurrences are a
part of life which means every day brings surprises and often new things to
learn.
This drives some people round the bend but I find it a welcome distraction if
I've been working behind the laptop for too long.

At the local vegetable market

I normally wake up at around 8 or 9, have a coffee (before
anything else is done), check my iPhone to see if I have received any urgent
work e-mails which need attention. This is quite often the case due to the time
difference. If there is anything that cannot wait, I start work. If not I will
get the household chores out of the way, shower, eat etc. and then switch on
the computer after. I tend to work
throughout the day because other things are best done early or later on in the
day because of the weather being so warm. The local people do the same. Most
Sri Lankans wake up very early, even the schools start at 7 a.m. and close at
lunchtime. The liveliest part of the day is between 5 and 7 p.m. People tend to
leave their houses, go and visit others, watch the sunset, go and pray in the
temples and the kids play in the street. My favourite time of the day – walk
the dog, relax, catch up with friends, get things ready for dinner (cooking is
one of my hobbies) – time away from work. After dinner I often work because all
my clients are working then due to time differences. If we go out at
night it is usually after 9 and I make sure I have no deadlines early the next
day!

Sri Lanka is mainly a Buddhist country

What are the advantages and disadvantages of living life as a travelling translator and how do they affect your translation business? Well the advantages are definitely being able to work when
you want and where you want – it is this freedom which you need to embrace whilst
at the same time being very responsible to make it a success. Another advantage
for me is making a living doing something I love. So many people I know only
work because they have to earn money. They would much rather not have to go to
their offices every day. I enjoy translating so I don’t suffer from the common
“I hate Mondays” or “TGIF” or the feeling of anger when it turns out you will
be working all weekend to meet that deadline. However, if that does happen I
give myself a full day off during the working week to enjoy the other things I
love. I aim to have one full non-working day a week. Plus I get to live in a
tropical country with the Indian Ocean on one side and the jungle on the other,
which others may only get to visit for a few weeks a year on holiday. Sounds
like a win-win situation doesn't it?

Hikkaduwa beach at sunset

Wrong. There are disadvantages too. To make any freelance
profession work you need to be focused. If
you cannot say no when friends want you to come for lunch, to the beach or if
you cannot ignore the sunshine, the ocean etc. this job is not for you. You
need to be very self-disciplined and organised. Especially in Sri Lanka where
there are often power cuts for a whole day, the humidity on the coast means
that electrical appliances are constantly breaking. I have used 5 laptops in 9
years (and that excludes the one which was swept away in the tsunami!). Be
prepared! As the others have mentioned – back-up your work; I back-up the
majority of my work on the Cloud now. Have a back-up internet connection (smart
phone, dongle etc.). Learn as much about the culture where you are as you can,
for example; it may take twice as long to fix a laptop problem in a developing
country as in Europe. Be prepared for quiet times when you are not earning,
always have a contingency plan. I learnt this the hard way. Thankfully I
persevered and came out on top J

Cooking a Sri Lankan crab curry

Where do the majority of your clients come from? Europe, UK and a few in the US. I have two direct clients
and the rest are all agencies.

What is your advice to anyone wishing to live the life of a travelling translator? Research, research and research (yes also the boring stuff
such as red tape, taxes, pensions, health insurance etc.), be prepared for all
eventualities. Fully expect to take a few knocks along the way. It’s not for
the faint hearted. Be very open and patient. Patience is very important because
success does not come overnight. It can take years to build up a reliable client
base. It takes time to find the right agencies which ‘work’ for you (instead of
you just working for them). They all have different cultures too. Try to find
clients and agencies which understand that you may not be in their time zone or
may not be able to work because of a 2-day power cut or that you are on the
move, but that will also know that you are happy to take on weekend work when
you can and that you are 100% committed to a job once you accept it.

It's hard to work with this on your doorstep!

The main thing is to be realistic about things – you are not
going to become a millionaire sipping margaritas on a beautiful beach in a
developing country whilst translating a few things at developed country rates.
Once you understand that and embrace your freedom and enjoy your surroundings whilst
doing hard work (sometimes), you are well on your way to a wonderful fulfilling
life!

Ankie is a professional freelance translator from Dutch into English
(and sometimes the other way around), English editor and proofreader. Native in
both English and Dutch, she specialises in Finance, IT,
Marketing, Travel & Tourism, Website and App localization. She grew up
abroad and still lives abroad. J She's passionate about food, seeing new places and experiencing new
cultures. You can find her on her blog,Facebook page and LinkedIn.

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Next in our mini interviews is Martina Russo, an English, Spanish and German into Italian freelance translator who loves languages and living a truly location-independent lifestyle. Here's what she has to say about living life as a travelling translator:

Martina,
tell us a few things about your life before you became a traveling translator.

A trip to Holland

Well,
traveling and living in different countries have always been part of my life. I
started working very early in my life, mainly in the hospitality industry, in
order to self-finance my studies. I moved out of Italy at the age of 18 and
spent some time in Germany until an opportunity to work in tourism arose
back home. Therefore, I relocated to Milan and truly enjoyed the international
environment and lifestyle that you can experience when working for airline
companies.

The
very same day I started my new job I also signed up at the faculty of
Interpretation and Translation of the IULM University in Milan.

What
languages do you speak and what made you become a translator?

My
mother tongue is Italian and I can speak English, Spanish
and German very fluently, and those are indeed the languages I work
from. I
have also started studying Russian and I am interested in Dutch. I can also
understand a bit of Portuguese.

Cabin for interpretation

I
have always been in love with the Italian language. As I grew up, this love
spread to other languages and I soon realized that I wanted to do something
with it. I was very undecided about what to do. Then one day someone came up to
me with the brochures of a school for translators and interpreters... and I was
enlightened.

What
made you become a traveling translator and lead the life that you do now?

A
few months after starting my career in tourism and my training as translator, I
had my first translation job (and I still happily work with this company 3
years later).

However,
I knew that in order to pursue my dreams and become a professional,
trainedtranslator I would
have to make some sacrifices, because the university I had chosen was quite
expensive.

Cycling in the Cambodian countryside

After a couple of years, I needed to move out of Italy again because – as you
might know – the Italian job market was not doing so well. The
chosen destination was once again Germany, since for me it was a chance to dive
deep into the German culture and language. I agreed with my university that I
would continue my studies as a distance learner.

And
this is where it all started. While in Germany I strengthened my
translation and language skills. As time went by, other occasional projects
added up to my curriculum. I was also continuing my training, occasionally
going back to Milan to take exams at university. In
Germany I also took part in the creation of a project called NGO Taxi South
America. It is a very innovative “travel &
work” project which aims to support local NGOs throughout South America.

After
a while I was open to a change of scenery and got a job in the German
part of Switzerland, where I lived for about one year. I just recently
left Switzerland and moved to a beautiful house around the Garda Lake in Italy
where I stayed for a few months. Afterwards, I decided that it was time for a
reward and jumped on a flight to Thailand. Right now I am writing from Cambodia.

Describe
a typical day in your life as a traveling translator.

Bangkok train station

It
usually depends on the workload I have. On a typical day I wake up and (after
having breakfast and all the other things that all human beings do) I check my
emails. I prioritize my tasks using old good pen and paper to have an overview
of my day and then spend something between half an hour and one hour reading
articles, the news, etc.

The
first working activity of my day normally involves 3-4 hours of
translating/subtitling for a company that I have a fixed job with.
Then I move onto any other job which is lined up, unless there is a deadline
or an urgency that will obviously mean a change of order. After I have been
translating for a while I stop and let my brain rest and fill in the “gaps” by
carrying out minor tasks from my to-do-list, like replying to emails or doing
some marketing.

During
my working days I usually don't travel or go to see places. I'd rather
take 1-2 days off and dedicate all of that time to discover the area
where I am living.

The beach

I
think that the beauty of it lies in the fact that you can choose where
you want to work from and where you want to live. This means that
you can spend one month in Thailand working from the beach; next month
you can be typing while facing a beautiful river in a charming town in Cambodia;
and, at some point, you can catch a flight back to Europe and work from a hut
on top of the mountains to enjoy some good snowboarding (yes, this is my
plan).

What are the advantages and disadvantages
of living life as a traveling translator and how do they affect your
translation business?

As
far as I'm concerned, there are way more pros than cons in working as a
traveling translator. You can take your job everywhere, and sometimes your job
can take you places, too. You
can enjoy different countries, cultures, people, food, different
activities and lifestyles. Being
“location-independent” is freedom. Your destiny is literally in your
hands.

I
believe that the combination of working for yourself, loving what you do and
being able to do it from ANYWHERE on the planet gives you such a feeling of satisfaction,
happiness and freedom that I couldn't think of doing anything else in my life.

I
also appreciate very much that being in some parts of the world is quite
convenient time-wise. For example, right now I am 6 hours ahead of
Europe. This gives me more flexibility when dealing with deadlines.

My home office in Koh Phangan, Thailand

But
of course there is the otherside of the coin. For example, it is
not always easy to find a fast and reliable internet connection. However, you would
be surprised to see how – in 2013 – the internet has reached even the most
remote of places.

One
more thing that I am not specifically happy about is that sometimes clients
might not pay on time, and when this happens they usually also forget to let you
know. So you'd better be prepared for this inconvenience, as you really don't
want to find yourself at the other side of the world with empty pockets.

Last
but not least, I can imagine that anyone who likes traveling has a sparkling
enthusiasm and a drive for adventures. It can sometimes be hard to concentrate
when you know that you have to spend 8 hours working, while you see all those
people chilling out at the beach. It often also happens that people are curious
and would like to embark on a life-long exchange of thoughts and ideas which
obviously won't do any good to your productivity. This
is a matter of self-discipline. You should find a rather quiet place
where you can concentrate, behave as if you were in a virtual office and
politely let everyone know that you are busy. Isolating yourself with
headphones might be a good idea.

Where
do the majority of your clients come from?

The
client I work most with is an American company with a branch in Europe.
Otherwise most of my clients come from Europe.

What
is your advice to anyone wishing to live the life of a traveling translator?

Becoming a “location-independent” professional is probably the best thing that could
have ever happened to me and I wouldn't hesitate suggesting this to anyone.
However, this lifestyle isn't for everybody. You might be more comfortable and
productive working from home or in an office with all your equipment and your
own internet connection.

For
those of you who are considering to embark on this journey, here is my advice. Before
starting, make sure that you have:

patience and tolerance: You
will gain a lot of these as time and countries add up in your list – however,
sometimes, especially if you have chosen an exotic destination, you will have to deal with random and sudden electricity blackouts or seasonal heavy
rains which will cause the internet to slow down.

TIP: Travel
with a proper smart-phone and buy a local simcard. Enable 3G and use your smart-phone to:

A) always have an
overview in case important emails flush in; B) use it as a modem and connect
your computer to it when the electricity goes down.
Unless you are on the top of Mount Everest, cellular connections nowadays usually work quite fast through 3G. TIP
IN THE TIP: To really make sure you havethought of everything
not to let down any clients in case of “emergency”, I also suggest you buy a portable power bank for your devices,
even better if it is a solar
powered one.

Equipment:
Before leaving for a round-the-world trip or just
visiting a few countries, equip yourself with a proper laptop. Out of
experience, I would suggest one which is not too big as it would be heavy to
carry around, but I would avoid one of those mini notebooks. The screen is very
small and after a while it can be disturbing. It's also a matter of memory and
software compatibility, so make sure you do proper research.Also bring an external hard disk for a
back up and, in case anything broke
down or got stolen, create a Dropbox
or Google Drive account with an online version of (at least) all important files.And, if you don't already have one,
you might consider buying an e-reading device.This
can be a great break from your laptop to read articles or books without making your bags too heavy.Be
constant: Especially if you already have issues with this at
home. Being flexible is a great thing, but it is also a good idea to set
time frames and always stick to them, as if you
were to go to an office. It is also a great thing to break the rule once in a
while.

Related
to the point above: Remember that you are not on holiday. Choosing a
more flexible, enjoyable lifestyle and renting out an apartment on the beach
doesn't mean that you should spend every day sun tanning. You have to keep up
with what you did back home. This is crucial for a successful
“location-independent” life.Stay
healthy: We all know how easy it is to get lost in emails and
files, this resulting in us sitting in front of the screen for hours. Whereas
at home it is also quite easy to adjust your regular schedule and find a place
to release all the stress by doing sports, if you're always on the move, it
becomes less obvious.

Give
yourself a limit, no matter what, and get up. Take a swim in the ocean, walk
along the river, find a gym or go jogging. This will also reboot your mental
system and boost your productivity.

TIP:
It can happen that you end up in a country where a gym
is nowhere to be seen, or where facilities are way too expensive, or you just
don't like running around that area. You could get yourself one of those
elastic bands. They are extremely light, they don't take up any space and
allow you to bring your own gym to your (temporary) home.

Keep
yourself informed about what's happening around the world
and look for online opportunities for self-development within the
industry. In 2013 there are countless resources to keep up to date and widen
your knowledge, even if you can't buy your favorite newspaper or you can't
physically attend a conference.

Enjoy your new
life!

Martina Russo is an English, Spanish & German
into Italianfreelance translator with 3 years of experience and a BA in translation studies. She also
offers proofreading, subtitling, transcribing and (light) post-editing services
in Italian. Her main domains are Tourism & Hospitality and Marketing
& Communication. Her main focus is her clients' peace of mind.

Martina also volunteers
translating for NGOs and is one of the staff members of the NGO Taxi South America, an innovative Travel & Work project that supports and promotes
development programs through South America.

Martina enjoys the
advantages of working from home by taking her home to different countries. She
likes experiencing new cultures and learning new languages – her dream is to
become a polyglot. She is currently writing an essay about memorization
strategies applied to language learning.